Intervalometer for parachute flare launcher

ABSTRACT

A control apparatus for automatically launching parachute flares from launchers which may be positioned in various different locations. The control apparatus which is located at a distance from the launchers contains the firing, timing and safety circuits necessary to launch the parachute flares in sequence.

United States Patent 1 Dobson et a1.

[ July 17, 1973 INTERVALOMETER FOR PARACI-IUTE FLARE LAUNCHER [75] Inventors: James J. Dobson; Thomas L.

Dellecave; Rudolf R. Konegen; John R. Miller, all of Rome, N.Y.

[22] Filed: Dec. 22, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 210,871

[52] US. Cl 89/28, 89/].814, 102/374 [51] Int. Cl. F4" 3/04, F41f 13/08 [58] Field of Search 89/28, 1.814; 102/37.4

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,181,822 5/1965 Allen et al. 102/37.4 3,598,015 8/1971 Delistovich 89/1314 Primary Examiner-Benjamin A. Borchelt Assistant Examiner-J. V. Doramus Attorney-Harry A. Herbert, Jr. ct al.

[57] ABSTRACT A control apparatus for automatically launching parachute flares from launchers which may be positioned in various different locations. The control apparatus which is located at a distance from the launchers contains the firing, timing and safety circuits necessary to launch the parachute flares in sequence.

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SHEET 10 [1F BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates broadly to a remotecontrol launching system and in particular to an intervalometer for a parachute flare launching apparatus.

In the defense of military installation, such as an air force base, the problem of an adequate base perimeter defense arises. In order to defend an air force base from enemy attack by infiltration, there is a requirement for immediate illumination of the perimeter area. This immediate light may be provided through the use of parachute flares which are fired from flare launchers. However, this technique has some inherent problems even though the requirement of immediate light is satisfied. The flare launchers which will be located in various positions around the base perimeter require an operator at each location. The position must be constantly manned to prevent any unneccesary delay in providing the immediate light. Once the flare launchers begin operation, their positions may be readily detected by hostile forces by the sound or sparks from the rockets which launch the flares. Thus, there is danger to the operator of the launch system from hostile fire. Further, in the case of an explosion of the pyrotechnics or rocket motors either by a direct hit or other reason, the operator is endangered. The present invention provides a system whereby the immediate light requirements will be satisfied without the inherent dangers to the operator. The system may be deployed around the base perimeter and controlled by a single operator in a position which is remote to launcher positions. In addition, the system could be used with other types of ordnance such as, smoke rockets or high explosive warheads.

SUMMARY The present invention utilizes an intervalometer which is a self-contained, battery operated unit for firing ground based parachute flares from four 16 round flare launchers. One complete intervalometer system consists of a control unit and four sequencer units. Each sequencer unit is connected to the control unit by a I ,000 foot cable, and the sequencer unit is connected to a flare launcher by an eight foot cable. The control unit provides a package selector switch, a safe-arm switch, a firing switch and a stop switch. The sequencer unit contains batteries, firing circuitry, low power logic, initiation and timing circuitry, and two safety switches. One safety switch controls logic power and the other controls firing power. During operation, the sequencer unit provides the electrical pulse to ignite the rocket motor which launches the flare. The sequencer unit also controls the time interval between subsequent flare launchings. The intervalometer is designed for use with base perimeter defense systems. The flare firing sequence can be interrupted and restarted at any time without loss of memory, and the sequence may be started in all four sequencer units. The intervalometer may be modified to operate with intrusion detection systems.

It is one object of the invention, therefore, to provide an intervalometer apparatus having a central control unit to fire flares from four different l6 round flare launchers which are each located 1,000 feet from the control unit.

It is another object of the invention to provide an intervalometer apparatus utilizing a completely solid state device for the initiation and sequencing for a ground based ordnance dispenser.

It is still another object of the invention to provide an intervalometer apparatus utilizing medium scale integration and complementary-symmetry MOS devices for control and gating circuitry.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide an intervalometer apparatus having the capability of firing flares by igniting I amp, 1 watt squibs which require 5 amps for at least 20 milliseconds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the parachute flare launcher system,

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the control box,

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the sequencer box,

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the circuitry on printed circuit board A],

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the trigger and clock circuit,

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the shift register circuits,

FIG. 7 is a logic diagram of the one-shot multivibrator,

FIG. 8 is a logic diagram of the circuitry associated with the shift registers through firing circuits of FIG. 3,

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the one-shots and inverters circuits of FIG. 3,

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the firing power enable circuit of FIG. 3; and,

FIG. I1 is a schematic diagram of one of the firing circuits contained in the firing circuits of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a block diagram of an intervalometer apparatus deployed in a parachute flare launcher system. A control box 10 is connected to four individual sequencer units lIa-lld by four one thousand foot cables IZa-lZd. The sequencer units Ila-11d are each connected to parachute flare launcher units I3a-13d by 8 foot cables I la-14d. The control box I0 provides the capability of selecting any one of the four sequencer-launcher units for firing. The control box I0 provides a further control feature in that the firing sequence in a given launcher may be stopped or interrupted and an other launcher is selected for firing. Thus, the control box 10 has complete selection control over which launcher unit is to be operated, control to initiate the firing of another selected launcher unit.

FIG. 2 is schematic diagram of the control box 10 illustrating the control features described above. The control box I0 has four connectors I6a-l6d to which are connected the 1,000 foot cables from the sequencer units Ila-11d of FIG. 1. A rotary switch 20, such as a type V-7l053 manufactured by J.B.T Instruments Inc. having three wafers 200-0 with five positions, receives the input lines from the sequencer units.

The ganged wiper arms of the rotary switch 20 are shown in the first switch position which is the off position. When the switch is rotated to the second switch position, the first sequencer unit may be operated. The switch positions continue in order until the last position is reached. The last switch position represents the fourth sequencer unit. When a sequencer unit is selected, the logic power output is connected to the line 19 through the wiper arm of wafer 200. If the logic power switch of the selected sequencer unit is in the on position, 12 volts logic power will appear on line 19. The logic power will be applied to both the fire push button switch 15 and the stop push button switch 18. The fire button 15 and the stop botton 18 are shown in the normally open position. The safe-arm switch which is shown in the normally open position (safe position) must be closed (arm position) before the fire button 15 can activate the selected sequencer unit. Once the safearm switch 17 is closed, the firing sequence may be initiated by depressing the fire button 15. If it is desired to interrupt or halt the firing sequence in the selected sequencer unit, the stop button 18 must be depressed. Thus, it may be seen that the control box provides the capability of selecting and controlling a particular sequencer unit.

Turning now to FIG. 3, there is shown a block diagram of the circuitry in the sequencer box. The sequencer box contains printed circuit boards which are numbered Al through A9. The printed circuit boards numbers are shown in parenthesis in the appropriate block. The operation of the sequencer box is as follows, the logic power switch 30 should be closed first, and then the firing circuit power switch 31 should be closed. When switches 30, 31 are closed, the circuitry of the sequencer box receives power and is in a standby mode. During this time, the current drain from the logic power battery 32 is approximately 0.02 milliamps. In order to initiate the firing sequence, the switches in the control box must be in the proper positions. The package selector switch 20 must be pointed to the appropriate package number, the "Safe-Arm switch 17 must be in the Arm" position, and the Fire" button must be pressed. When the Fire" button 15 is pressed, one shot multi 33 on the fire line is triggered, and a short pulse is transmitted to the latch circuit 34. The purpose of the RF filters 35, 35a is to filter out radio or radar frequencies which may be picked up by the 1,000 ft. unshielded wire.

The output of the latch circuit 34 goes high when it is triggered by the fire one shot multi 33, and will remain high until toggled by the stop button one shot multi 36. The high output of the latch circuit 34 energizes the clock enable circuit 37 which transmits operating power to the trigger and clock circuit 38.

The trigger and clock circuit 38 provides a pulse at its output immediately and also starts the 60 second clock. The pulse at the output of the trigger and clock 38 does two things:

1. It triggers the firing power enable circuit 39 which provides firing power to the firing circuits 40; and,

2. ll triggers the first shift register, Shift Register A, 4|. Shift registers A and B, (41, 42) are 4 bit shift registcrs.

The two shift registers are set up so that the first output of shift register A, 41 and shift register B, 42 will go high on the first clock pulse. Thereafter, shift register A, 4] will shift one bit for each clock pulse, and shift register B, 42 will shift each time shift register A, 4| completes it fourth cycle. The outputs of the two shift registers form a counter that uses the base four. Shift register A, 41 acts as the unit column, and shift register B,42 acts as the base column. The eight outputs ofthe shift registers 41, 42 are converted to 16 outputs by the decoding network 43, which consists of 16 twoinput NOR gates. As the sequence steps through, the decoding network 43 allows only one firing circuit to be triggered for each clock pulse. The one-shots 44 at the outputs of shift register A, 41 limit the time that the firing circuits 40 will be energized to save battery current. The inverters 45 are necessary to allow the NOR gates in the decoding network 43 to be used as twoinput AND gates. The purpose of the firing power enable circuit 39 is to ensure that the firing circuits 40 receive power only when a pulse is generated by the trigger and clock circuit 38.

When the operator wants the sequence to stop, the Stop" button 18 is pressed. The one shot multi 36 on the stop button line is triggered and provides a pulse to the latch circuit 34. The output of the latch circuit 34 goes low. The low output of the latch circuit 34 turns off the clock enable circuit 37 which interrupts operating power to the trigger and clock circuit 38. After the trigger and clock circuit 38 has been stopped, the shift registers 41, 42 will remain at the same position until the Fire" button 15 is pressed again. The shift registers 41, 42 will then advance to the next position. The only other way that the shift registers 41, 42 will move from their last position is, if the logic power switch 30 is opened. Then the shift registers 41, 42 will reset to zero. The turn off circuit 46 will stop the sequence approximately 60 seconds after the 16th firing circuit is triggered.

FIG. 4 is a schematic of the circuitry contained on the printed circuit board A1. The fire and stop switches are not actually contained on A1, but are shown in FIG. 4 for convenience.

When the Fire" button is pushed, voltage passes through the L000 ft. wire and appears at resistor 50 in FIG. 4. A pulse is formed by resistor 50 and capacitor 51 which is amplified and shaped by amplifier 53. This pulse enters the clock input 54 of the flip-flop 55. The output of flip-flop 55 goes high and triggers unit 56 which energizes the clock and trigger circuit 38.

The stop circuit works the same way, and the pulse into the reset line 57 of the flip-flop, 55, causes the 0 output 58 to go to ground. This lowers the output of unit 56 thereby removing power from the trigger and clock 38.

During voltage turn on, the capacitor 59 causes unit 60 to give a pulse into the reset line 57 which holds the Q output 58 of the flip-flop 55 low. This is a safety feature, in case the fire circuit gives an output pulse during voltage turn on, the capacitor 59 will provide a pulse five times as long and prevent the flip-flop 55 from setting and firing a flare.

The trigger and clock circuit which is shown in FIG. 5 consists of a unijunction oscillator 61, a pulse shaper 62, and a frequency divider circuit 63. The circuit shown in FIG. 5 is shown divided in three sections wherein Section I is the oscillator, Section II is the pulse shaper, and Section III is the frequency divider. The op erating power for the entire board is provided by the clock enable circuit 37 on printed circuit board A1 (FIG. 4). This circuit operates only after the Fire button I5 (FIG. 2) is pressed. Before the Fire button 15 is pressed and also after the Stop button 18 has been pressed, the circuit on printed circuit board A2 in FIG. 5 is inoperative.

When the clock enable circuit 37 provides power to board A2, a pulse is provided to the reset line of the seven stage binary counter 67. This pulse which is provided by the network, resistor 68 and capacitor 69, sets all inputs of the binary counter 67 low, and this low output is gated by NOR gates 70, 71 as a positive pulse at the output of NOR gate 71. This pulse triggers the shift register 41 (FIG. 3) and turns on the firing circuit power 39 (FIG. 3), causing a flare to be fired immediately when the fire button is pressed for the first time.

When the clock enable circuit 37 (FIG. 3) provides power to trigger and clock circuit 38 (FIG. 3) 3) on board A2, the oscillator 61 in Section I begins to operate. A sawtooth wave is provided by resistors 64, 65 and capacitor 66 with the period adjustable by resistor 65. In order to obtain a 60 second period at the output of NOR gate 71, a period of 468 milliseconds is needed at the output of transistor Q1, point A.

Section II is the pulse shaping network 62 which transforms the sawtooth wave into a pulse of sufficient voltage and adequate rise, fall and duration times. The pulse at point B has a voltage of 8 volts, and a pulse duration of 12 microseconds. The rise and fall times are no greater than microseconds which is the required maximum for the 7 hit counter 67.

FIG. 6 is a schematic of the circuitry of printed circuit board A3. The logic diagram of the one shot in FIG. 6 is shown in FIG. 7 is a logic diagram of the block diagram circuits of FIG. 3 illustrating the logic flow from shift registers 41,42 through to the firing circuits 40. The shift register clock input requires a pulse that is no greater than 400 milliseconds with rise and fall times no greater than l5 microseconds. Trigger and clock circuit 38 (FIG. 3) provides a pulse that is 468 milliseconds wide, so that the one shot circuit 74 which is shown in FIG. 7 is needed. The RC time constant which is provided by resistor 75 and capacitor 76 determines the pulse width of the output and resistor 77 and capacitor 78 provide a lag network to prevent the gates 79 and 80 from oscillating.

The two-shift registers 41, 42 (FIG. 3) are both contained in one package, U3 in FIG. 6. Each shift register is connected to form a ring counter. The first clock pulse will set the firsdt output of both registers high. Subsequent clock pulses will shift the output one bit for each clock pulse for shift register 41 and one bit for each four clock pulses for shift register 42. The decoding network 43 allows only one firing circuit to be triggered at a time. The outputs of the shift register 41 feeds into one-shot circuit 44 which are set for l seconds. This limits the time that the firing circuits 40 will be turned on. When the fourth output of shift register 42 goes high, the data input of the disable flip-flop will be high. The flip-flop will be triggered when the first output of Shift Register A 41 goes high the next time, and this will cause the sequencer to be turned off after the l6th firing circuit has been triggered.

FIG. 9 is a schematic of the circuitry which is contained on printed circuit board A4. The printed circuit board A4 contains four one-shot circuits and 8 inverters. The two input gates in NOR gates 85, 86 are used with resistors, capacitors and diodes to form one-shots which are similar to the one-shot circuit shown in FIG. 7. The pulsed output of the one-shots are then passed through the inverters which are made from two input gates in NOR gate 87.

The four outputs from shift register 42 are inverted by the Quad 2 inputs gates of NOR gate 88. The inverters are necessary to allow the two input NOR gates in the decoding network 43 to act as 2-input AND gates.

The FIG. 10 is a schematic of the printed circuit board AS, the firing power enable circuit 39 (FIG. 3). The pulse from the trigger and clock circuit 38 while triggering the shift register 41 also triggers the firing power enable circuit 39. The pulse triggers the one shot multi 89 (FIG. 3), which consists of two gates in NOR gate (FIG. 9), and the resistors capacitors and diodes (shown in FIG. 10 by the reference numeral 90). The output of the one-shot circuit 90 triggers transistor 01 on. Transistors Q2 and Q3 are gain stages which are required to turn on transistor 04. Transistor O4 is the large power transister which will conduct the current from the 6 volt batteries to the firing circuits 40 (FIG. 3).

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of one of the firing circuits which is contained in firing circuit 40 of FIG. 3. There are 16 paralleled firing circuits. These firing circuits are contained on four printed circuit boards having four firing circuits on each printed circuit board. The decoding network 43 (FIG. 3) will turn on each firing circuit in its proper sequence. The transistor 04 of FIG. 10 is turned on by the gain stages Q2, Q3 and conducts 6 amps for 1 1/2 seconds. The 6 amps will be drawn only during the first 20 milliseconds, after which the squib will be open and the collector current of transistor 04 will be reduced by the resistor 95. The squib is shown as a resistor 96. The 1 H2 seconds that the firing circuit turns on, is controlled by the one-shot circuits 44 at the output of shift register 41. This time is also controlled by the one-shot circuit 44 which is in the firing power enable circuit 39.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment, it will be understood to those skilled in the art that the invention is ca pable of a variety of alternative embodiments within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An intervalometer apparatus for a parachute flare launcher system comprising in combination:

a control box providing output control signals, said control box having a logic power voltage, said logic power voltage being applied to a fire switch and a stop switch, said fire switch being connected to a safe-arm switch, said fire switch providing a fire output signal, said stop switch providing a stop output signal, said output control signal being said fire and stop output signals, plurality of sequencer units, each of said plurality of sequencer units respectively connected to said control box by individual 1000 foot cables, each of said plurality of sequencer units receiving said output control signals, said sequencer units providing a firing power output signal, said firing power output signal occurring in a predetermined time interval, said firing power output signal having a predetermined output level, and,

a plurality of parachute flare launcher units having a predetermined number of parachute flares, said plurality of parachute flare launcher units being rc spectively connected to said plurality of sequencer units by an 8 foot cable.

2. An intervalometer apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein said control box further includes a rotary 0 switch to provide said output control signal to said plurality of sequencer units individually.

3. An intervalometer apparatus as described in claim 1 where said predetermined time interval is 1.5 secends.

4. An intervalometer apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein said plurality of sequencer units comprises four sequencer units. 

1. An intervalometer apparatus for a parachute flare launcher system comprising in combination: a control box providing output control signals, said control box having a logic power voltage, said logic power voltage being applied to a fire switch and a stop switch, said fire switch being connected to a safe-arm switch, said fire switch providing a fire output signal, said stop switch providing a stop output signal, said output control signal being said fire and stop output signals, a plurality of sequencer units, each of said plurality of sequencer units respectively connected to said control box by individual 1000 foot cables, each of said plurality of sequencer units receiving said output control signals, said sequencer units providing a firing power output signal, said firing power output signal occurring in a predetermined time interval, said firing power output signal having a predetermined output level, and, a plurality of parachute flare launcher units having a predetermined number of parachute flares, said plurality of parachute flare launcher units being respectively connected to said plurality of sequencer units by an 8 foot cable.
 2. An intervalometer apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein said control box further includes a rotary switch to provide said output control signal to said plurality of sequencer units individually.
 3. An intervalometer apparatus as described in claim 1 where said predetermined time interval is 1.5 seconds.
 4. An intervalometer apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein said plurality of sequencer units comprises four sequencer units. 